Judson Burdon Speaks To MBA Class About Starting Your Own Business

Speaking at the University of Utah's MBA Class

I had the great pleasure to speak not once, but twice, this week at the University Of Utah’s MBA class about how to start your own business. Not only was it exciting to share with a room of students that being your own boss gives you the best job security in tough economic times, but it was also very exciting to see that the entrepreneurial spirit is very much alive and well in the West!

By starting your very own business, you put control of your job security and your hours in your hands. The amount of work you put in will equal the amount of satisfaction - and money - you take out. You will never enjoy that level of control, pride, and achievement working for a corporation.

Here is a perfect example. Henry is 16. His father set Henry and two friends up with a Business In A Box for less than $5000 as well as a Powrliner 850 Linestriping Machine for less than $2000. With some linestriping paint and stencils, that’s everything these teens need to get started with their own driveway sealing company. Unlike some teen businesses, with an asphalt sealcoating package, there are no franchise fees ever. Their only costs will be restocking sealant and crack filler, plus the fuel to get the jobs done.

Their first order of business is to pay back Henry’s father, and then they will start enjoying the profit of their labors. They will earn $400 to $600 daily while learning customer management skills, sales, accounting, accountability and much more.

Note:These savvy teenagers have invested in a complete asphalt maintenance business that includes crack filling and linestriping as well as the sealcoating. It’s a great way to provide everything a customer needs, maximizing your profitability quickly. Not everyone can afford to jump in with both feet, though, so we offer a number of options for starting a business for a wide range of budgets.

This is the type of industry where anyone can get started and earn money quickly and easily, because the equipment is simple and easy to use; no MBA required! With today’s readily available accounting programs, running your own business financially has never been easier. What you need most is someone to go to for help when you have questions about equipment, expansion, and marketing. At Asphalt Kingdom, we do all that, because I know that our success depends upon your success.

Why am I so certain about the success of starting your own business? It’s what I did at age 17: I started my own sealcoating business and never looked back. Henry is my most recent example of a teenager starting his own business, and next year my own son will be starting his own company at the tender age of 15. Why is this particular business such a good one to start? I think this video of Henry using a linestriping machine is a perfect example of how simple, and profitable, this line of work is:

Even if you are a cautious person, and don’t want to start as ambitiously as Henry has, you can still start your own driveway sealcoating business for less than $3K. That’s a sealcoating-only package that will let you dip your entrepreneurial toes in the water to see just how easy and lucrative it is. As your business (and your confidence) grows, you can expand to include crack repair with an AK10 and crack filler. In no time you’ll have earned enough to add on a linestriper (ranging from $1199 to $7649) and some white paint for linestriping small parking lots, schoolyards, and sports fields (just like Henry is doing now).

Compare this to working summers and weekends at a minimum wage job in a fast-food joint, for the King or the Clown. The pay is poor, and does not teach teenagers to be independent, to think for themselves, or to realize their dream of job security – unless their passion is to work for a corporation, and then it’s a great start. But if your teen has other passions or hobbies, fostering a start-up mindset is great. By starting your own business, you discover that putting more effort into your company results in more money in your pocket. The better you hone your door-to-door sales techniques, the more jobs you earn and the more future jobs you ensure.

Not only is this a benefit to young people looking to make their way in the world, I truly believe this is the way to benefit the whole country’s economy. The more entrepreneurs we have running their own small businesses, the better off we are as a whole. Whether its asphalt maintenance, mowing lawns, landscaping, house painting, or something else entirely, no one is more motivated to be a success than individuals working for themselves.

It is a learning curve that teaches you on a day-to-day basis what works to land a new customer, what keeps that client, and success leads to success. In a time where corporations are downsizing and/or failing, and job security belongs to your parent’s generation, why wouldn’t you invest in yourself by starting your own business?